Where The Music Dwells
by natsunrende
Summary: A curious instrument arrived at the Castle That Never Was, Roxas wasn't aware of this due to his hectic schedule of missions. But when he heard the music it was playing, it attracted his attention. It soothed him, he loved the music it was playing. Contains RokuShi fluff.


Roxas had just returned from another mission assigned at Agrabah. He was getting tired of that place. It was such a warm city. The fact that his Organization cloak was long sleeved, dark coloured and made with thick material only made it worse. Beads of perspiration trickling down his neck were wiped away as Roxas made his way to report his mission to Saix. All heartless were cleared in Agrabah. He figured that he deserved some rest since he took out more than the required amount of Heartless he was supposed to defeat. Plus, he had missed the time he was supposed to eat ice cream with Axel and Xion. It was not until Roxas reached the Grey Area did he realize that the castle was quiet and empty. He was so immersed with his mission, he must have returned to the castle late.

"I'll just report back to Saix tomorrow," Roxas mumbled to himself before his mouth stretched to a yawn. He turned on his heels to make his way to his room, but as he took another step, he heard a musical note. Then came another, and another. And slowly, one by one, more notes came and started forming a melody and gradually it all fit into a beautiful and soothing song. Roxas unconsciously went to the direction of the song, curious to what source it came from.

He was led to an empty room. In the middle of it sat an enormous instrument. Someone was pushing the keys, playing a soothing music. Roxas was mesmerised. He stood by the threshold, rooted to the ground as the music filled him inside. He closed his eyes as he tried to feel the music playing from the instrument. It felt as if it had captivated his heart, if he had one. He was so absorbed by the music that when the piano stopped playing, he felt as if he had woken up from a dream.

Roxas looked up and his eyes met Xion's, who was apparently the one playing the calming music.  
"Roxas," she stood up from the chair. She tapped her fingers together as she spoke, "how long have you been standing there?"  
"I was here awhile ago," Roxas answered. He made his way to Xion and examined the queer-looking instrument. "What's this thing?"  
"It's a piano," Xion answered. "I heard that this was imported from Traverse Town earlier today."

Roxas ran his fingers over the ebony and ivory of the keys as he muttered the word "piano" to himself. He turned to Xion with a big grin on his face, "what was that piece you were playing on the... the piano?"  
Xion took the few pieces of papers resting on the music rack of the piano and searched for the front page.  
"'Vector to the Heavens'," she read aloud. "I saw this on the floor while I was at Twilight Town. I think it fell out of a girl's bag…" she confessed. Her face turned scarlet but Roxas did not seem to mind.  
"Will you please play that song for me?" he requested.

Xion nodded enthusiastically and sat down on the chair and Roxas followed suit, sitting beside her. She placed the music sheets on the rack and gently laid her fingers on the keys. When she felt ready, she pushed the keys, creating music.

The music reverberated about the room. Roxas once again felt a tinge of it running through him and lifting the weight off his shoulders. He closed his eyes and listened to Xion's wonderful performance. The music was rather melancholic and sentimental, but Roxas enjoyed it otherwise. When Xion had reached the last note, Roxas opened his eyes and turned to Xion.  
"How do you play this thing?" he asked.  
Xion shrugged, "I had Demyx to teach me a little bit of music. He didn't know much about the piano so I had to learn by myself."  
"You're really good at this, Xion," Roxas commended her. "Thank you."

At the last two words, Xion tilted her head at Roxas. "Why?" she asked. "What's with the 'thank you'?"  
"I was really tired from the mission today and Agrabah was twice as hot. Then when I heard your piano-playing, I felt at ease," Roxas explained. "I wish I could listen to this again tomorrow."  
Xion beamed. She felt all fluttery inside of her, "thanks, Roxas. That means a lot to me."

Roxas scooted closer to Xion, "I'd like to learn the art of music too," he whispered.  
Xion grumbled and pushed Roxas away from her. From the corner of his eyes, however, Roxas could see the pink blush creeping up Xion's face.  
"I'm not going to teach you!" she rebutted.  
"Come on, please?" Roxas begged. "Remember how I mentored you on the first day you were in the Organization?"  
Xion looked away as silence fell upon the two. Roxas was afraid that he had said something that made Xion feel uncomfortable, but she giggled lightly a few seconds later.  
"Okay, fine," she gave in. "I'm horrible at teaching, though."

Roxas radiated a big smile upon his face and scooted closer to her. He placed his fingers tenderly on the keys and tried to follow after Xion. It was confusing and difficult for Roxas as he had to stretch his fingers so far apart. It was nothing like holding a Keyblade where your fingers just stay in place. Something like this was completely new to him. Eventually he had gotten the hang of it.

"There you go!" Xion clapped, "that's the first verse! Now do it on your own."  
Roxas sighed, he felt lost as he was pushing the keys of the piano. He felt embarrassed that he had pressed the incorrect notes, but the cheering and support from Xion encouraged him to try again.  
"You just need some practice," she squeezed his hands.  
"Yeah I do, it sounds horrible when I play it," Roxas chuckled, Xion laughed along.  
"Let me show you the verse again, okay?" she offered. Roxas lifted his fingers off the keys and watched Xion's fingers danced on the keyboard. His eyes wandered from her fingers to Xion's face. He noticed how graceful she looked playing the piano. Xion caught Roxas' eye and pressed a wrong note out of distraction. It was an awful, loud note and the pair of them earned a warning from the threatening Larxene, who was shouting from miles away from the piano room. "I'm trying to sleep here!"

"We can practice tomorrow," Roxas suggested quietly.  
"O- Oh, right," Xion quavered. Her face was now a deep shade of red. She stood up once Roxas was off the seat and attempted to pack the music sheet together. Roxas waited until Xion caught up with him at the exit door before they made their way to their rooms.

"Oh, Roxas," Xion stopped him before he closed the door, "thanks for coming to listen," she smiled.  
Roxas returned her smile. "Thanks for letting me listen."  
And with that, the two exchanged good night greetings and went to bed with the music of 'Vector to the Heavens' playing in Roxas' head. His fingers were wriggling in air, as if he was playing on an invisible piano.


End file.
